Bottle guide rails with air flow openings

ABSTRACT

A two axis bottle guide rail change over apparatus for an air conveyor supports a pair of guide rails and is operable to simultaneously adjust a lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails and/or simultaneously adjust a vertical positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to the air conveyor.

This is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No.09/239,614, filed Jan. 29, 1999 U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,880 and presentlypending.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to an apparatus that adjusts thepositions of a pair of guide rails of a conveyor. In particular, thepresent invention pertains to an apparatus that supports a pair ofbottle air conveyor guide rails and is operable to simultaneously adjusta lateral spacing between the pair of guide rails and/or simultaneouslyadjust a vertical positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to theair conveyor.

(2) Description of the Related Art

Air conveyors are employed in the rapid transport of empty plasticbottles of the type having an annular rim or a neck ring at the base ofthe bottle neck. A typical air conveyor includes a pair of flanges thatare spaced from each other defining an elongated slot between theflanges. The spacing between the flanges is sufficiently large to enablea portion of the bottle just below the neck ring to pass through thespacing with the bottle suspended from the top surfaces of the flangesby the neck ring engaging over the top surfaces. A series of air ductsare positioned along the flanges above and/or below the elongated slot.A plenum of the air conveyor supplies a flow of air to the air ducts.The air ducts are oriented so that the air ejected from the ducts willcontact the plastic bottles pushing the bottles along the pathwaydefined by the elongated slot with the neck ring of the bottles slidingalong the top surfaces of the spaced flanges.

Preferably, air conveyors transport bottles in closely spaced successionand at a substantial speed. A typical air conveyor is constructed withboth straight sections and curved sections in order to transport thesuccession of bottles from one area to another. Air conveyors often haveguide rails positioned below the slot defined by the pair of flanges.Pairs of guide rails positioned on opposite sides of the slot follow theconveyor path defined by the slot. The guide rails are usually spacedfurther apart from each other than are the flanges to allow the width ofa bottle suspended from the flanges to pass easily between the guiderails. The guide rails limit the side-to-side movement of the successionof bottles conveyed by the air conveyor and thereby limit the extent towhich the body of a bottle can swing outwardly or transversely from theair conveyor path and thereby avoids a bottle neck or neck ringpotentially becoming jammed in the air conveyor slot and stopping thesuccession of conveyed bottles.

The positioning of the pair of guide rails relative to the air conveyorslot is determined by the size and shape of the bottle to be conveyed bythe air conveyor. The pair of guide rails are spaced a lateral distancefrom each other that is slightly larger than the width of the bottle tobe conveyed along the longitudinal length of the air conveyor. The guiderails are centered laterally relative to the center of the air conveyorslot so that the spacing of the pair of guide rails from laterallyopposite sides of the bottle is substantially equal. In addition, thepair of guide rails are positioned vertically relative to the airconveyor slot so that they are positioned on opposite lateral sides of aportion of the bottle having the bottle's greatest width.

The pair of guide rails are supported beneath the air conveyor slot by aframe that is either supported on a floor beneath the air conveyor or issuspended from the air conveyor. The pair of guide rails are oftensupported on the frame by brackets that are adjustably connected to theguide rails and adjustably connected to the frame. For example, theguide rails can be attached by screw threaded fasteners to the bracketswhere the fasteners can be loosened to enable manual adjustment of thevertical positions of the guide rails relative to the brackets andrelative to the air conveyor. The fasteners are then tightened to securethe guide rails in their vertically adjusted positions. In addition, thebrackets could be attached by screw threaded fasteners to the framewhere the fasteners can be loosened to enable manual adjustments to thelateral spacing between the brackets and the pair of guide rails, andthen tightened to secure the brackets and guide rails in their laterallyadjusted positions.

However, manually adjusting the lateral spacing between a pair of guiderails and the vertical position of a pair of guide rails relative to anair conveyor involves a significant amount of time. All of the fastenerson all of the brackets along the length of the conveyor must beloosened, the adjustments made, and all the fasteners tightened. Thetime required for these adjustments is further increased depending onthe length of the conveyor system. If the conveyor system is beingchanged from conveying plastic bottles having a smaller diameter tothose having a larger diameter, the lateral spacing between the guiderails must be adjusted to a larger spacing while maintaining the pair ofguide rails centered beneath the conveyor slot. These adjustments mustbe made along the entire length of the air conveyor. Furthermore, if theconveyor is being changed over from conveying bottles having a smallervertical height to conveying bottles having a larger vertical height,the vertical positions of the guide rails relative to the air conveyormay also need to be adjusted. Again, these adjustments must be madealong the entire length of the air conveyor system which could take aconsiderable amount of time. Still further, in multiple conveyor systemswhere there are a plurality of air conveyor slots arranged side by side,the adjustments must be made to the pairs of guide rails for each of theconveyor slots, thus multiplying the time required for the adjustments.Making all of these adjustments to the guide rails of the air conveyorsystem results in a considerable amount of down time of the airconveyor.

The problem of the considerable down time needed to adjustably positionguide rails of an air conveyor would be overcome by an apparatus that iscapable of simultaneously adjusting the lateral spacing between pairs ofguide rails and/or simultaneously adjusting the vertical positions ofthe guide rails relative to the air conveyor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The two axis guide rail change over apparatus of the invention can beemployed with virtually any type of conveyor system that conveys asuccession of articles along a longitudinal conveyor path, where anylateral side-to-side movement of the succession of articles is limitedby a pair of longitudinally extending guide rails positioned onlaterally opposite sides of the conveyor path. In the operativeenvironment of the guide rail change over apparatus to be described, theapparatus is employed on an air conveyor that transports plasticbottles. The bottles are of a conventional type with each bottle havinga neck at its upper end and an annular shoulder below the neck thatdefines the upper portion of the body of the bottle. An outwardlyprojecting annular rim or neck ring is positioned below the neck of thebottle and above the bottle shoulder.

The air conveyor with which the guide rail change over apparatus of theinvention is described is a multi-channel air conveyor where eachchannel of the conveyor employs a pair of flanges through which the neckand neck ring of the bottle project. The neck ring rests on top surfacesof the spaced flanges suspending the shoulder and body of the bottlebelow the flanges. The air conveyor includes a series of air ducts alongeach channel that direct a supply of air against the bottle causing thebottle to move along the length of the air conveyor with the neck ringof the bottle sliding along the top surfaces of the flanges. Airconveyors of this type are described in the U.S. Patents of OuelletteU.S. Pat. No. 5,437,521, issued Aug. 1, 1995, and U.S. Pat. No.5,611,647, issued Mar. 18, 1997, both of which are assigned to theassignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.

Air conveyors typically include a frame work that supports the conveyor.They also often include guide rails that are supported from the framework or suspended from the air conveyor in positions just below the airconveyor slot. The guide rails are provided in pairs that extend alongthe longitudinal length of the conveyor. A lateral spacing between thepair of guide rails is centered below the spacing between the airconveyor flanges that define the slot. The spacing between the guiderails is slightly larger than the body of the bottles to be conveyed bythe air conveyor. The guide rails limit the extent to which the bottlesconveyed by the air conveyor can rock side-to-side or transversely totheir direction of conveyance.

The two axis guide rail change over apparatus of the invention isdesigned to enable its simple addition to an existing air conveyorsystem. The apparatus is designed to be substituted for the guide railsof a prior art air conveyor.

In a similar manner to prior art pairs of guide rails that are arrangedend to end along the longitudinal length of an air conveyor, the pairsof two axis adjustable guide rails of the invention may also be arrangedend to end along a longitudinal length of an air conveyor. In addition,the pairs of two axis adjustable guide rails may also be employed onmultiple channel air conveyors in the same manner as prior art guiderail pairs.

The two axis guide rail change over apparatus is supported on a framethat is attached to a multi-channel air conveyor section and suspendedbelow the air conveyor slots of the conveyor section. The frame supportsan adjustment mechanism and the adjustment mechanism supports pairs ofguide rails that are positioned beneath and laterally centered relativeto the slots of the air conveyor. The adjustment mechanism is capable oflaterally adjusting the guide rail pairs relative to each other as wellas vertically adjusting the positions of the guide rail pairs relativeto the air conveyor slots.

The adjustment mechanism includes two pairs of screw threaded rods thatextend horizontally and laterally across the conveyor paths defined bythe pairs of guide rails. The two pairs of lateral rods are positionedbeneath the guide rails with one pair being positioned adjacent theupstream ends of the guide rails and the other pair positioned adjacentthe downstream ends of the guide rails. One rod of each pair has righthand screw threading and one rod of each pair has left hand screwthreading. A right hand internally screw threaded block is mounted onthe right hand screw threaded rod of each pair of rods and a left handinternally screw threaded block is mounted on the left hand screwthreaded rod of each pair of rods. One guide rail of.each pair issecured to the two right hand screw threaded blocks at the oppositeupstream and downstream ends of the guide rails and the other guide railof each pair is secured to the two left hand screw threaded blocks atthe opposite upstream and downstream ends of the guide rails.

The two pairs of lateral rods are interconnected by a chain drive systemthat rotates each of the rods at the same speed and in the samedirection of rotation. The chain drive system is selectively driven byeither a manual hand crank or an electric gear motor to rotate all ofthe lateral rods in a first direction of rotation or rotate all of thelateral rods in an opposite, second direction of rotation.

By rotating the rods in either the first or second directions ofrotation, due to the right hand and left hand screw threading of thelateral rods of each pair, the blocks mounted on the rods will movelaterally toward or away from each other. This, in turn, results in thesimultaneous movement of the guide rails of each pair laterally towardand away from each other. By calibrating the number of turns of themanual handle of the chain drive system needed to move the guide railsof each pair a certain distance relative to each other, the lateralspacing between adjacent guide rails of each pair can be quicklyadjusted to any desired lateral distance by rotating the handle in theappropriate direction and for the appropriate number of turns.Alternatively, by interconnecting a counter in the train drive systemthat calibrates the direction and number of rotations of the electricgear motor output shaft needed to adjust the lateral distance betweenthe guide rails of each pair, the lateral spacing between the guiderails of each pair can be quickly adjusted to a desired lateral spacing.

The pairs of transverse threaded rods are received in bearing journalsat their opposite ends that, in turn, are mounted on pairs of channelmembers. The channel members extend the longitudinal length of theconveyor section and are positioned on laterally opposite sides of thepairs of guide rails. Each of the channel members has an internallyscrew threaded block at its opposite upstream and downstream ends. Eachof the four screw threaded blocks is mounted on one of four verticalscrew threaded rods with the four blocks and the two channel membersbeing positioned in the same horizontal plane.

The four vertical rods are interconnected by a chain drive system thatdrives each of the four rods at the same speed in opposite first andsecond directions of rotation. The chain drive system of the verticalrods is powered by a manual hand crank or an electric gear motor. Therotation of the vertical rods in opposite directions of rotation causesthe four internally screw threaded blocks and the attached pair ofchannel members to move together vertically upwardly and downwardlyrelative to the air conveyor. This, in turn, causes the pairs of guiderails supported on the lateral rods, which are supported between the twolongitudinal channel members, to move vertically upwardly and downwardlyrelative to the air conveyor channels.

As in the chain drive system for the transverse rods, the direction andnumber of rotations of the hand crank can be calibrated to adjustablyposition the pairs of guide rails at a desired vertical positionrelative to the air conveyor channels. Alternatively, with thetransverse rods having a standard ACME thread of six threads per inch,counters are commercially available that count 0.1667 inches perrevolution (or one inch per six revolutions). Such a counter can beinterconnected with the chain drive system of the vertical rods todetermine the direction and extent of output shaft movement needed toadjustably position the pairs of guide rails at a desired verticalposition relative to the air conveyor channels.

The two axis guide rail change over apparatus of the invention providesa means of quickly and simultaneously adjusting the lateral spacingbetween adjacent pairs of guide rails and/or adjusting the verticalposition of the pairs of guide rails relative to an air conveyor. Theapparatus is equally well-suited for use with multiple channel conveyorsas well as single channel conveyors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and features of the present invention are set forth inthe following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of theinvention and in the drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation view of a four lane air conveyor systememploying the two axis guide rail change over apparatus of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevation view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1with a manual hand crank drive system;

FIG. 3 is a fragmented top plan view of a portion of the apparatus ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmented plan view of one of the chain drive systems ofthe apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmented side elevation view of a portion of the apparatusof FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of a modified guide rail; and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the guide rail of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a multi-channel air conveyor that serves as the operativeenvironment of the present invention. Although a multi-channel airconveyor is shown, it should be understood that the present inventionmay be employed with a single-channel air conveyor. The component partsto be described are primarily constructed of metal, although othermaterials such as plastic may be employed in certain component parts.The component parts are secured together by threaded fasteners, welds,or other equivalent means.

FIG. 1 shows an end elevation view of the air conveyor. The conveyorincludes four conveyor channels 12, each having an inverted, generallyU-shaped configuration with a top wall 14 and laterally spaced sidewalls 16. Together, the channel top wall 14 and the side walls 16 giveeach of the channels their inverted, generally U-shaped configurationsurrounding an interior volume 18 of each conveyor channel. The sidewalls 16 of each conveyor channel have lower sections 22 connected tothe side walls by threaded fasteners. The side wall lower sections 22have pluralities of air duct outlets (not shown) that extend through theconveyor side walls 16 and the side wall lower sections 22. Theconfigurations of the air duct outlets direct jets of air ejected fromthe outlets to strike bottle containers conveyed by the air conveyors inthe area of the shoulder of the bottles, thereby forcing the bottles totravel downstream along the length of the air conveyor.

Each of the air duct outlets in the side wall lower sections 22 is fedwith pressurized air directed through air conduits that pass through theside walls 16 of the conveyor channels. These air ducts extend from thetop surface of the conveyor channel top wall 14 completely through theside wall 16 to the air duct outlets of the side wall lower sections 22.This construction of the air ducts and air conduits is employed in airconveyors of the type disclosed in the U.S. Patent of Ouellette, U.S.Pat. No. 5,628,588, issued May 13, 1997 and incorporated herein byreference.

The interior volume 18 of each of the conveyor channels 12 contains apair of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending flanges 26. Theopposed pairs of flanges 26 extend from the opposed side walls 16 ofeach of the conveyor channels 12 and define conveyor slots 28 betweeneach pair of flanges. The flanges 26 are held between the upper portionsof the channel side walls 16 and the lower sections 22 of the channelside walls. In a bottle conveyor of the type shown in FIG. 1, thelateral widths of the slots 28 is adjusted by adjusting the relativelateral positions of the pairs of flanges 26 to each other. Thus, theslots 28 can be adjusted to receive the neck of plastic bottles 32 ofvarious different sizes with the annular rim or neck ring 34 of thebottle supported on the top surfaces of the pair of flanges 26 and withthe body of the bottle suspended below the pair of flanges.

An air plenum 36 extends longitudinally along the top wall 14 of theconveyor channels 12. The air plenum 36 is an elongated hollow boxcomprised of a pair of side walls 38 and a top wall 42 that surround aninterior volume 44 of the plenum. The plenum 36 receives a flow of airfrom a source such as a blower (not shown) and channels the air throughits interior volume 44 supplying the air to the air conduits that passthrough the side walls 16 of the conveyor channels and through the airducts that pass through the side wall lower sections 22 of the conveyorchannels. Although only a short, straight length of the air conveyor isshown in the drawing figures, air conveyors of this type are constructedwith substantial lengths comprised of a plurality of air conveyorsections of the type described and shown arranged longitudinally,end-to-end. In addition, the air conveyor sections can curve fromside-to-side and incline upwardly and downwardly along their lengths.

The air conveyor described to this point is of the type disclosed in theearlier referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,588 and many of the componentparts of the air conveyor described are found in various different typesof air conveyors. In addition, many prior art air conveyors employ pairsof guide rails centered beneath the slots of the conveyor channels andextending along the conveyor path defined by the conveyor slots. Theguide rails are usually spaced a greater lateral distance from eachother than are the flanges of the conveyor channels. The lateral spacingof the pairs of guide rails is slightly larger than the width ordiameter of the body of the plastic bottles conveyed by the airconveyor. The guide rails limit the movement of the bottles laterallyside-to-side as the bottles are conveyed along the longitudinal lengthof the air conveyor.

The two axis bottle guide rail change-over apparatus of the inventionreplaces conventional pairs of guide rails. It should be understood thatthe air conveyor described is only one operative environment of the twoaxis bottle guide rail change-over apparatus, and that the apparatus maybe employed in different types of air conveyors having constructionsthat are different from the construction of the air conveyor describedherein. The change-over apparatus is not limited to use with theparticular type of air conveyor described. Although the guide railchange-over apparatus will be described as being employed with amulti-channel air conveyor, it is equally well-suited for use with asingle-channel air conveyor as well as other types of conveyors that arenot air conveyors.

The two axis guide rail change-over apparatus is supported by a framethat includes four struts 52, 54. The struts 52, 54 are arranged inpairs that are attached to the upstream end and downstream end of theair conveyor. FIG. 1 shows the upstream end of the air conveyor. FIGS. 3and 4 show the upstream end of the air conveyor to the right in thefigures, with the downstream end being shown to the left. Referring tothe opposite ends of the air conveyor as upstream and downstream ends isdone for this explanation only. It should be understood that theconveying path could be reversed without affecting the operation of theguide rail change-over apparatus.

The upstream pair of struts 52 are shown in FIG. 1. The construction ofthe downstream pair of struts 54 is the same as the upstream pair ofstruts 52. As seen in FIG. 1, the upstream pair of struts 52 have topends that are bent laterally inwardly toward each other and are attachedto the outer most side wall lower sections 22 of the conveyor channels12 by threaded fasteners. The bottom ends of the struts 52, like theirtop ends, are also bent inwardly toward each other. An upstreamcross-brace 56 seen in FIG. 4 is connected between the inwardly turnedbottom ends of the pair of upstream struts 52 and a downstreamcross-brace 58 is connected between the inwardly turned bottom ends ofthe pair of downstream struts 54. A tubular channel 62 extendslongitudinally between the lateral center of the upstream cross-brace 56and the downstream cross-brace 58. The tubular channel 62 is secured tothe upstream cross-brace 56 and downstream cross-brace 58 at itslongitudinally opposite ends. Together, the four struts 52, 54, the pairof cross-braces 56, 58 and the tubular channel 62 define a support framethat supports a vertical adjustment mechanism and a horizontaladjustment mechanism of the two axis guide rail change-over apparatusbeneath the conveyor channels 12 of the air conveyor section. Thevertical adjustment mechanism adjusts the vertical positions of theguide rails relative to the conveyor channels 12 and the horizontaladjustment mechanism adjust the horizontal positions of the guide railsrelative to each other.

The vertical adjustment mechanism includes a pair of upstream verticalscrew threaded rods 64, 66 and a pair of downstream vertical screwthreaded rods 68, 72. The screw threading of all of the vertical rods isthe same, for example, they are all right hand screw threaded. Each ofthe rods is supported at its opposite ends by bearing journals 74attached to the opposite tops and bottoms of each of the upstream struts52 and downstream struts 54. Thus, the bearing journals 74 support therods in their vertical orientations and the rods are free to rotate inthe bearing journals.

The two upstream rods 64, 66 have sprockets 76, 78 secured to the rodsadjacent their bottom ends and the two downstream rods 68, 72 also havesprockets 82, 84 secure to the rods adjacent their bottom ends. One ofthe upstream rods 64 has an additional driven sprocket 86 secured to therod adjacent its bottom end. Referring to FIG. 4, a pair of upstreamtake-up and routing sprockets 88 are mounted on the upstream cross-brace56 adjacent the tubular channel 62. A pair of downstream pinionsprockets 92 are mounted on the downstream cross-brace 58 adjacent thetubular channel 62.

A loop of link chain 94 extends around the pair of upstream sprockets76, 78, between the pair of upstream pinion sprockets 88, through theinterior of the tubular channel 62, between the pair of downstreampinion sprockets 92 and around the pair of downstream sprockets 82, 84as shown in FIG. 4. The length of link chain 94 functions as a portionof a drive system that simultaneously rotates the upstream sprockets 76,78 and the downstream sprockets 82, 84 in the same direction and at thesame speed of rotation. With the upstream sprockets 76,78 being securedto the upstream vertical screw threaded rods 64, 66 and the downstreamsprockets 82, 84 being secured to the downstream vertical screw threadedrods 68, 72, driving the link chain 94 in one direction simultaneouslyrotates the four vertical screw threaded rods 64, 66, 68, 72 in the samedirection and at the same speed of rotation. Reversing the drive of thelink chain 94 to the opposite direction simultaneously rotates all ofthe four vertical screw threaded rods 64, 66, 68, 72 in the oppositedirection.

A motor support plate 96 is secured to the underside of the upstreamstrut 52 adjacent the drive sprocket 86. An electric gear motor 98 ismounted on the motor support plate 96 with a drive shaft 102 of the gearmotor projecting through the underside of the plate. A drive sprocket104 is secured to the gear motor output shaft 102 and a small loop ofchain 106 interconnects the drive sprocket 104 and the driven sprocket86. Thus, controlling the electric gear motor 98 to rotate its outputshaft 102 in a first direction is transmitted by the loop of chain 106to the driven sprocket 86 of the one upstream vertical screw threadedrod 64, rotating the vertical rod in the same direction as the gearmotor output shaft 102. This rotation of the upstream vertical screwthreaded rod 64 is transmitted by the link chain 94 of the drive systemto the other upstream vertical screw threaded rod 66 and to the pair ofdownstream vertical screw threaded rods 68, 72, causing all of thevertical screw threaded rods to rotate in the same direction and at thesame speed. Reversing the direction of rotation of the gear motor outputshaft 102 reverses the direction of rotation of all four of the verticalscrew threaded rods.

Four internally screw threaded vertical adjustment blocks 112, 114, 116,118 are mounted on the external screw threading of the four verticalscrew threaded rods 64, 66, 68, 72, respectively. As an alternative, theblocks could have smooth internal bores and a brass nut could beattached to each block in alignment with the internal bore. The fourvertical rods would then be screw threaded through the nut of eachblock. The internal screw threading of each of the blocks mates with theexternal screw threading of each of the screw threaded rods. Thus,rotating all four vertical screw threaded rods 64, 66, 68, 72 in onedirection of rotation causes the vertical adjustment blocks 112, 114,116, 118 to move together in a vertically upward direction, andreversing the rotation of all four of the vertical rods will cause allfour of the blocks 112, 114, 116, 118 to move together in a verticaldownward direction.

One of the upstream vertical adjustment threaded blocks 112 anddownstream vertical adjustment threaded blocks 116 is secured to alongitudinal channel member 122 and the others of the upstream verticaladjustment threaded blocks 114 and downstream vertical adjustmentthreaded blocks 118 is secured to a second longitudinal channel member124. The two longitudinal channel members 122, 124 and the four verticaladjustment threaded blocks 112, 114, 116, 118 together define a carrierfor the horizontal adjustment mechanism of the two axis guide railchange-over apparatus.

The horizontal adjustment mechanism includes four, horizontal or lateralscrew threaded rods 132, 134, 136, 138 that laterally traverse the pairof longitudinal members 122, 124. The lateral screw threaded rods arearranged in upstream and downstream pairs. The upstream pair of rods132, 134 extend laterally parallel to each other and have theirlaterally opposite ends mounted in bearing journals in the pair ofupstream vertical adjustment blocks 112, 114. The bearing journalspermit the upstream pair of lateral rods 132, 134 to rotate freely. In alike manner, the downstream pair of lateral rods 136, 138 extendlaterally parallel to each other and have their opposite ends mounted inbearing journals in the pair of downstream vertical adjustment blocks116, 118. The bearing journals in the downstream vertical adjustmentblocks 116, 118 permit the downstream pair of lateral rods 136, 138 torotate freely. With each of the lateral rods having their opposite endsmounted in one of the vertical adjustment blocks which are, in turn,mounted on the four vertical screw threaded rods, rotating the fourvertical screw threaded rods 64, 66, 68, 72 in one direction of rotationcauses the four lateral screw threaded rods 132, 134, 136, 138 to movetogether vertically upwardly, and rotating the four vertical screwthreaded rods 64, 66, 68,72 in the opposite direction causes the fourlateral screw threaded rods 132, 134, 136, 138 to move togethervertically downwardly.

One of the pair of upstream lateral rods 132 has right handed screwthreading across its exterior and the other of the pair of upstreamlateral rods 134 has left handed screw threading across its exterior.Also, one of the pair of downstream lateral rods 136 has right handedscrew threading across its exterior and the other of the pair ofdownstream lateral rods 138 has left handed screw threading across itsexterior.

A right handed internally screw threaded horizontal adjustment block 142is mounted on the right handed screw threaded rod 132 of the upstreampair of rods and a left handed internally screw threaded horizontaladjustment block 144 is mounted on the left handed screw threadedlateral rod 134 of the upstream pair of rods. In a like manner, a righthand internally screw threaded horizontal adjustment block 146 ismounted on the right handed screw threaded lateral rod 136 of thedownstream pair of rods and a left handed internally screw threadedhorizontal adjustment block 148 is mounted on the left handed screwthreaded lateral rod 138 of the downstream pair of rods. As analternative to the internal screw threading of the horizontal blocks,the blocks could be hollow and have brass nuts mounted on their oppositeends with the nuts threaded on the lateral rods. The nuts are mountedloosely on the opposite ends of the blocks to permit some slight axialmovement of the nuts which prevents binding of the pairs of nuts on therods. Each of the horizontal adjustment blocks 142, 144, 146, 148 doesnot extend across the entire length of its associated lateral rod. Thisenables limited lateral movement of the horizontal adjustment blocksacross their associated lateral rods in response to rotation of therods. However, because one rod of each pair is right hand screw threadedand the other rod of each pair is left hand screw threaded, thehorizontal adjustment blocks of each pair of rods will move in oppositelateral directions in response to rotating both rods of each pair in thesame direction. Thus, turning both of the upstream pair of lateral screwthreaded rods 132, 134 in the same direction will cause their associatedhorizontal adjustment blocks 142, 144 to move in opposite directions andturning the lateral screw threaded rods 136, 138 of the downstream pairin the same directions will also cause their associated horizontaladjustment blocks 146, 148 to move in opposite directions.

A link chain drive system interconnects each of the four lateral screwthreaded rods. Referring to FIG. 3, the upstream pair of lateral screwthreaded rods 132, 134 have sprockets 152, 154 secured to adjacent endsof the rods. The sprockets 152, 154 are connected together by a smallloop of link chain 156. In a like manner, the downstream pair of lateralscrew threaded rods 136, 138 also have sprockets 162, 164 secured toadjacent ends of the rods. These sprockets 162, 164 are alsointerconnected by a small loop of link chain 166. At the opposite endsof the pairs of lateral screw threaded rods, a drive sprocket 168 issecured to the right hand screw threaded rod 132 of the upstream pair ofrods, and a driven sprocket 172 is secured to the left hand screwthreaded rod 138 of the downstream pair. A loop of link chain 174interconnects the drive sprocket 168 with the driven sprocket 172.

Referring to FIG. 3, a drive shaft 176 extends laterally across the pairof channel members 122, 124 and has its opposite ends mounted forrotation in bearing journals 178 secured to the channel members 122,124. The drive shaft 176 is connected to an electric gear motor 184 by adrive transmission such as a worm gear transmission or a bevel geartransmission. The electric gear motor 184 is selectively controlled torotate the drive shaft 176 in one direction that causes the horizontaladjustment blocks of each pair to move toward each other, or in a secondopposite direction that causes the horizontal adjustment blocks of eachpair to move away from each other. A drive sprocket 186 is secured tothe drive shaft 176 and is connected by a loop of link chain 188 to adriven sprocket 192 secured to an end of the left hand lateral screwthreaded rod 134 of the upstream pair of rods 132, 134. Thus, rotatingthe drive shaft 176 in one direction of rotation results in the pairs ofupstream lateral screw threaded rods 132, 134 and the pair of downstreamlateral screw threaded rods 136, 138 being rotated at the same speed andin the same direction of rotation. Reversing the rotation of the driveshaft 176 also reverses the rotation of the upstream pair of lateralscrew threaded rods 132, 134 and the downstream pair of lateral screwthreaded rods 136, 138.

Opposed pairs of guide rails 202, 204 are secured to the horizontaladjustment blocks with one guide rail 202 of each pair being secured tothe left handed internal screw threaded blocks 144, 148 and the secondguide rail 204 of each pair being secured to the right handed internalscrew threaded blocks 142, 146. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the guiderails of each pair are mirror images of each other and are formed fromlongitudinally elongated plates. The bottom edges of each guide rail arebent inwardly and are secured to their respective horizontal adjustmentblocks by threaded fasteners. The top edges 212, 214 of the guide railsare also bent slightly inwardly toward each other. The inwardly angledtop edges 212, 214 are designed to contact bottles conveyed along theair conveyor to limit the lateral movement of the bottles as they areconveyed while minimizing the surface area of contact between the guiderails and the bottle and thereby minimize any slowing of the bottlesspeed when contact with the guide rails occurs. The top edges 212, 214have a commercially available U-shaped extruded plastic covering pressedover the edges for soft contact with the bottles being conveyed. Theinward bends of the top edges 212, 214 not only position the edges closeto the opposite sides of the bottles being conveyed to limit theirside-to-side movement, but is also useful in limiting forward andrearward rocking movement of certain types of conveyed bottles. Forexample, when the bottles being conveyed have an exterior surface with aportion that is contoured or curved inwardly toward the center of thebottle, the guide rails can be vertically and laterally adjustablypositioned so that their inwardly angled top edges 212, 214 extend orproject into the curvature of the bottle exterior. With the top edges212, 214 projecting into the bottle curvature, any forward or rearwardrocking of the bottle will cause the enlarged lower end of the bottlebelow the curved portion of its exterior surface to come into contactwith the inwardly angled edges 212, 214. Thus, in this manner theinwardly angled edges 212, 214 also limit the extent of forward andrearward rocking movement of the bottles conveyed by the conveyor.

By mounting one of the guide rails 202 of each pair to the left handedscrew threaded adjustment blocks 144, 148 at the opposite upstream anddownstream ends of the conveyor section, and mounting the other guiderail 204 of each pair to the right handed screw threaded adjustmentblocks 142, 146 at the opposite upstream end and downstream ends of theair conveyor section, controlling the operation of the electric gearmotor 184 to rotate the drive shaft 176 in one direction adjustablypositions the guide rails 202, 204 laterally toward each other, andoperation of the gear motor 184 to rotate the drive shaft 176 in asecond opposite direction adjustably positions the guide rails 202, 204laterally away from each other. In FIG. 1, the pairs of guide rails 202,204 are shown in full lines in their first adjusted positions where thelateral spacing between the pairs of guide rails is its greatest. Alsoin FIG. 1, a pair of guide rails 202′, 204′ is shown in broken lines inits second laterally adjusted position where the guide rails arepositioned laterally closest to each other. Because the pairs of guiderails are mounted by their blocks 142, 144, 146, 148 on the pairs oflateral rods 132, 134, 136, 138 that, in turn, are mounted on the blocks112, 114, 116, 118 of the longitudinal channel members 122, 124,selective operation of the vertical adjustment gear motor 98 to rotateits output shaft in one direction results in the pairs of guide railsbeing vertically positioned upwardly, and operation of the verticaladjustment gear motor 98 to rotate its output shaft in a second oppositedirection results in the pairs of guide rails being verticallypositioned downwardly relative to the air conveyor channels 12.

If desired, a counter 216 can be mounted on one of the lateral screwthreaded rods 134 and can be calibrated so that it displays a numericalvalue representative of the lateral spacing between the pairs of guiderails 202, 204. In a like manner, a second counter 218 can be mounted onone of the vertical screw threaded rods 64 and can be calibrated to givea numerical display representative of the vertical position of the guiderails relative to the air conveyor slots 28.

Although electric gear motors 98, 184 are described above as beingemployed in the preferred embodiment for driving the vertical screwthreaded rods and the lateral screw threaded rods, these gear motors canbe replaced by hand cranks 222, 224 as shown in FIG. 2.

The two axis guide rail change over apparatus described above providesan apparatus that is capable of simultaneously adjusting the lateralspacing between adjacent guide rails of an air conveyor having one ormore conveyor channels and/or simultaneously adjusting the verticalpositions of the guide rails relative to the air conveyor withoutrequiring a substantial down time of the conveyor.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment of a guide rail 302 that includes animprovement over the guide rails 202, 204 described earlier. Like thepreviously described guide rails, the modified guide rail 302 isemployed in pairs of guide rails that are mirror images of each other.Also like the previously described guide rails, the modified guide rail302 is constructed as an elongate, generally flat plate having a lengthwith opposite upstream 304 and downstream 306 edges and opposite top 308and bottom 312 edges. The upstream and downstream edges 304, 306 areparallel to each other and the top and bottom edges 308, 312 areparallel to each other giving the guide rail 302 a rectangularconfiguration. As in the previously described embodiment of the guiderail, a majority of the body 314 of the guide rail is positioned in asingle vertical plane 316 when in use. The bottom edge 312 of the guiderail is bent perpendicular to the single plane 316 of the guide railbody 314. In use, the bottom edges 312 of each pair of guide railsproject toward each other. As in the first described embodiment of theguide rails, the top edges 308 of the guide rails are also bent inwardlytoward each other. The top edges 308 also have the commerciallyavailable U-shaped extruded plastic covering pressed over the edges forsoft contact with the bottles being conveyed. FIG. 6 shows a flat guiderail prior to the top and bottom edges being bent and FIG. 7 shows theguide rail of FIG. 6 after the top and bottom edges have been bent.

The modified guide rails 302 differ from the previously described guiderails in that they are provided with a plurality of openings 322. Theopenings 322 are spacially arranged along the length of the guide railsbetween the top and bottom edges and between the upstream and downstreamedges of the guide rails. It has been observed in use of the firstdescribed embodiment of the guide rails that as a body of a bottle isconveyed between the guide rail plates, the bottle pushes the airbetween the plates before the body of the bottle. This has a tendency tocause the body of the bottle to angle rearwardly as the bottle neck isconveyed along the slot of the air conveyor. This could lead to jammingof the bottle in the air conveyor. To overcome this problem the modifiedguide rails 302 of the invention have pluralities of openings 322 alongthe lengths of the guide rails that allow the air to escape from betweenthe pair of opposed guide rails. In the preferred embodiment, theplurality of openings 22 are rectangular and are of a common size.However, the openings 322 can have any shape to accomplish the purposeof allowing air to escape from between an opposed pair of guide rails.This is demonstrated by the group of openings 324 toward the center ofthe guide rail 302 of FIG. 6 that are formed to display the trademarkOMS_(TM) of the guide rail manufacturer.

While the present invention has been described by reference to aspecific embodiment, it should be understood that modifications andvariations of the invention may be constructed without departing formthe scope of the invention defined in the following claims.

What is claimed:
 1. An air conveyor guide rail comprising: an elongateplate having top and bottom edges and upstream and downstream edges, aplurality of openings through the plate within the top, bottom, upstreamand downstream edges of the plate for allowing a free flow of airthrough the plate, and attachment means for attaching the plate to theair conveyor; the plurality of openings being positioned in a singleplane; and, the plate having a bend along the bottom edge of the platethat positions the bottom edge of the plate in a plane that is orientedat an angle relative to the single plane in which the plurality ofopenings are positioned, the attachment means being formed between thebottom edge and the bend.
 2. An air conveyor guide rail comprising: anelongate plate having top and bottom edges and upstream and downstreamedges, a plurality of openings through the plate within the top, bottom,upstream and downstream edges of the plate for allowing a free flow ofair through the plate, and attachment means for attaching the plate tothe air conveyor; the plurality of openings being positioned in a singleplane; and, the plate having a bend along the top edge of the plate thatpositions the top edge of the plate in a plane that is oriented at anangle relative to the single plane in which the plurality of openingsare positioned.
 3. The air conveyor guide rail of claim 2, wherein: theplurality of openings are spacially arranged along a length of theplate.
 4. The air conveyor guide rail of claim 2, wherein: each openingof the plurality of openings has a rectangular shape.
 5. The airconveyor guide rail of claim 2, wherein: each opening of the pluralityof openings has a common shape.
 6. The air conveyor guide rail of claim1, wherein: the plate has a bend along the top edge of the plate thatpositions the top edge of the plate in a plane that is oriented at anangle relative to the single plane in which the plurality of openingsare positioned and the plane in which the bottom edge is positioned. 7.An air conveyor guide rail comprising: an elongate plate having top andbottom edges and upstream and downstream edges, a plurality of openingsthrough the plate within the top, bottom, upstream and downstream edgesof the plate for allowing a free flow of air through the plate, andattachment means for attaching the plate to the air conveyor; and, thetop and bottom edges of the plate being parallel to each other and theupstream and downstream edges of the plate being parallel to each other.8. Air conveyor guide rails comprising: a pair of elongated plates, eachplate having top and bottom edges and upstream and downstream edges, aplurality of openings through each plate within the top, bottom,upstream and downstream edges of each plate for allowing a free flow ofair through the plate, and attachment means for attaching the plate tothe air conveyor; the pair of plates being mirror images of each other.9. The air conveyor guide rails of claim 8, wherein: each plate has alength between its upstream and downstream edges and the plurality ofopenings of each plate are spatially arranged along the length of eachplate.
 10. Air conveyor guide rails comprising: a pair of elongatedplates, each plate having top and bottom edges and upstream anddownstream edges, a plurality of openings through each plate within thetop, bottom, upstream and downstream edges of each plate for allowing afree flow of air through the plate, and attachment means for attachingthe plate to the air conveyor; the plurality of openings of each platebeing positioned in a single plane; and, each plate having a bend alongthe bottom edge of the plate that positions the bottom edge of the platein a plane that is oriented at an angle relative to the single plane inwhich the plurality of openings are positioned, the attachment meansbeing formed between the bottom edge and the bend.
 11. The air conveyorguide rails of claim 8, wherein: each opening of the plurality ofopenings has a rectangular configuration.
 12. The air conveyor guiderails of claim 8, wherein: each opening of the plurality of openings hasa common shape.
 13. Air conveyor guide rails comprising: a pair ofelongated plates, each plate having top and bottom edges and upstreamand downstream edges, a plurality of openings through each plate withinthe top, bottom, upstream and downstream edges of each plate forallowing a free flow of air through the plate, and attachment means forattaching the plate to the air conveyor; the plurality of openings ofeach plate being positioned in a single plane; and, each plate having abend along the top edge of the plate that positions the top edge in aplane that is oriented at an angle relative to the single plane in whichthe plurality of openings are positioned.
 14. The air conveyor guiderails of claim 10, wherein: each plate has a bend along the top edge ofthe plate that positions the top edge in a plane that is oriented at anangle relative to the single plane in which the plurality of openings ofeach plate are positioned and relative to the plane in which the bottomedge of each plate is positioned.
 15. Air conveyor guide railscomprising: a pair of elongated plates, each plate having top and bottomedges and upstream and downstream edges, a plurality of openings througheach plate within the top, bottom, upstream and downstream edges of eachplate for allowing a free flow of air through the plate, and attachmentmeans for attaching the plate to the air conveyor; the top and bottomedges of the pair of plates being parallel to each other and theupstream and downstream edges of the pair of plates being parallel toeach other.